Recent Barolo and Barbaresco Vintages

The latest vintages of Barolo and Barbaresco have just been released – 2006 for Barolo and 2007 for Barbaresco. Given this, I’d like to provide a brief recap of the last decade of vintages.

2007 – A beautiful year with wines offering lovely aromatics, lively acidity and very good to excellent concentration. The wines are forward – indeed quite approachable in some cases – but will probably not be as long lived as the wines from 2001 or 1999. The finest examples of Barbaresco I have tasted so far should drink well for 12-15 years. Excellent to Outstanding (Note: I am basing my opinion here primarily on Barbaresco, but I have also tasted a few barrel samples of Barolo from this year; the 2007 Barolos will be released in a year.)

2006 – This is an old fashioned vintage with deep concentration, firm tannins and a tight style, demanding patience from the consumer. Depending on your viewpoint, you may love this vintage or you may be puzzled by it. I certainly think that Barolo and Barbaresco lovers who have been drinking these wines for a long time will be more of a fan than consumers who try these wines on an occasional basis; those individuals will no doubt prefer the approachability of the 2007s. The finest Barolos from 2006 will be at their best in 20-25 years. Excellent to Outstanding

2005 – A charming vintage with good concentration and freshness as well as finely tuned acidity. Given the intensity of recent vintages such as 2004, 2006 and 2007, this vintage may seem a bit light on the palate; indeed the wines as a rule are not as deeply concentrated as those years. However, these are beautifully balanced wines and offer very good varietal character. Look for optimum drinking for 2005 Barbarescos to be in 5-7 years, while the finest Barolos will be at their best in 10-12 years. Very Good to Excellent

2004 – Gorgeous wines with everything you’d want in these bottlings – deep concentration, beautiful aromatics, lively acidity and ideal structure for long-term aging. When I tasted these wines at first – the Barbarescos in early 2007, the Barolos in early 2008 – I was struck by the amazing perfumes. Rarely have I had wines that were as beautifully aromatic upon release as the 2004s. Yet as mentioned above, the wines will age wonderfully. Look for 20-25 years for the finest examples of 2004 Barbaresco and as long as 35-40 years for the top Barolos from 2004. Outstanding

2003 – Average at best. 2003 was a torridly hot year all throughout Italy, so for the Nebbiolo-based wines here, the acidity levels are lower than usual, meaning the wines will not age well. As these wines are all about aging, that makes this vintage less than successful. The wines have big weight on the palate, but in this year, that translates to a heaviness and lack of elegance. Poor to below average

2002 – Hailstorms throughout much of the Barolo zone were the story here, especially in La Morra. This reduced the crop as well as causing berry shatter, so the wines are quite light. Producers in communes that escaped the hail, such as Verduno, did produce some stylish and complex wines, but for the most part, this is a disappointing vintage. It’s doubtful you’d even find any 2002 Barbarescos or Barolos on retail shelves or restaurant wine lists these days, but if you do, they’re not as bad as advertised. At least these wines have elegance and good levels of acidity, unlike those from 2003. The wines should be consumed now or over the next 3-5 years. Below average

2001- A stellar vintage with excellent to outstanding concentration, beautifully defined acidity and wonderful expression of terroir. Every district in Barbaresco and Barolo performed brilliantly. Look for these wines to peak in another 12-20 years. Truly one of the most successful vintages of the past twenty years. Outstanding

2000- Despite one or two early proclamations that this was an amazing year, 2000 turned out to be an average vintage. This was a hot year (not as hot as 2003, but quite warm), meaning the wines had ripeness without the proper acidity. The wines were forward with round tannins, prompting the early raves, but in reality, these are nice wines that lack intensity as well as the structure for long aging. While a few of the best wines will drink well for another 3-5 years, most are ready to go now, and as this is only 10 years out, that certainly doesn’t equate to a great – or even excellent – vintage for these wines. Average

1999 – Another stellar year, the top Barbarescos and Barolos from 1999 offer excellent concentration, firm tannins and ideal acidity (one Barolo producer told me that in his opinion, the 1999s offer the best levels of acidity for Barolo in the last decade). While a few of these wines are drinking well now, the finest will offer another 12-20 years of pleasure. A great, great vintage. Outstanding

1998 – A vastly underrated vintage, 1998 had the bad luck to be sandwiched in between 1997 (a vintage that has been overrated) and the stellar 1999. 1998 offers everything you want in a textbook Barolo or Barbaresco – beautiful concentration, firm tannins and precise acidity. In fact, it is the acidity of these wines that in my opinion carry these wines, keeping a wonderful freshness and elegance to these wines. This is not the most deeply concentated vintage of the past decade (1999, 2001 and 2004 resulted in much more powerful wines), but there is admirable depth of fruit and great balance and finesse. Most of the finest bottlings of Barbaresco as well as many Barolo from 1998 are drinking beautifully now, while a few of the top Barolos will offer another 7-10 years of pleasure. Excellent

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tom hyland

I am a freelance wine writer and photographer specializing in the wines of Italy. I live in Chicago and recently completed my 65th trip to Italy. I have visited virutally every region in the country and am constantly amazed at the wonderful variety of wines produced from indigenous grapes (I am never amazed at the quality of the wines!).
I have been in the wine business for 35 years, have been writing for 17 years and have been a professional photographer for the past eight years. I currently contrubute to publications such as Decanter and wine-searcher.com. I am a freelance photographer for Cephas Picture Library in England and have had my photos published in the publications above plus several more.
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2 thoughts on “Recent Barolo and Barbaresco Vintages”

Tom, thanks for the vintage accounts – useful reference, and it echoes my experiences so far. I’ve been hearing that 2006 is a classical year. A few months ago when I started tasting them pre-release, they showed extremely tannic. But now 6 mo later they are starting to open up a little bit. Promises to be good. 05’s have been charming and hard to resist. 03’s and 00’s tricky. The 98’s I’ve had lately have been good, wish I had more. Given the good fortune of attractive vintages in Barbaresco/Barolo, hopefully the prices will stay flat to down. (No wonder Produttori chose not to bottle their single-vineyards in 2006). Interesting, Gary Vaynerchuk recently pronounced Nebbiolo to be massively underrated and underpriced, and the next up-n-comer.

Thanks for your comment. I agree with you and hope that the producers do keep pricing reasonable. A few producers in Piemonte have admitted that pricing for the region’s wines is, in general, a bit high. There are just too many wines out there. Nice of Gary to state that Nebbiolo is underrated and underpriced. I think in the large scheme of things, he’s correct.